To BCSP or Not to BCSP
I am genuinely interested in everyone's opinion on two questions:
1. Do you find real, professional, value from a BCSP certification?
2. Does the test content to get said certification reflect our actual experiences we have in the field applying regulations to problem solving (is it relevant)?
Comments (6)

It depends on what you're wanting to get out of it by getting this certification AND how you go about passing the certification exam.
If you're doing it for a pay raise or to get a job, then it's typically worth it to get a certification from BCSP (depending on which one you get). If you're doing it just to establish credibility as an instructor or safety professional in general, then it depends on your audience because if they don't know what that even means, then it's just alphabet soup after your name to someone. However, in a crowd full of people who know what the BCSP is and/or their certifications, then yes, it helps establish more credibility for you in MOST cases.
Does the content in the exam reflect what you'll see in real life? It depends. As a consultant, I'm in about 20-30 different industries on a regular basis, ranging from Nuclear Power Plants to Hoover Dam to construction industry, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, so on and so forth, so the wide variety of questions that I had on my ASP and CSP exam is relevant to me NOW. However, when I passed my ASP and CSP when I worked for a chemical manufacturer and construction company (respectively), half of the questions had nothing to do with my line of work. Although I worked with HazMat in my career at the Fire Dept. and dealt with it there, questions about radioactive isotopes and calculating their half-lifes had absolutely nothing to do with any of my previous jobs (prior to working at Arrow Safety). MOST of the questions were generic enough to apply to just about any industry, but I did have several that were industry-specific. However, I know that every person who takes the test gets something completely different. Heck, a person who works as a safety professional for a 1-story pharmaceutical company may never have to worry about fall protection at all due to having no stairs/confined spaces/other spaces that require it, but they're probably going to get some questions about it.

1) I think it does help when trying to get new jobs and promotions. I sit on most safety committees when we are hiring new people at our organization and those with certifications always go to the top of the pile first. However, and I have made this same comment on here before, I don't think that having a certification from BCSP or any other organization makes someone a better H&S professional all it tells me is that they passed a couple of tests. And yes I have two certifications that I carry from BCSP (CSP & SMS). Some of the best safety professionals I know don't have any certifications or degrees in safety.
2) There are some questions that are relevant to most safety professionals daily actual experience. However, for example with the ASP there are a lot of technical questions involving math that I haven't used in years, or I have an app or program to calculate the questions out for me. I know in the past (and it still may be true) that for extra C.E. points you could submit questions to BCSP and if they used them in an exam you would get points. I remember on one of the three (I dropped the ASP once I got my CSP) a very specific question about playgrounds and if you didn't know about this question or have experience in this area it was a complete guess. I don't know that these types of questions are fair to test the knowledge of safety professionals, but they are there.
Yea, the value is everywhere you go and see others credentials. Put in the work to earn the CSP, and relish what you have achieved. Others talk about getting it, or they’re too busy. Bottom line, you have it and they don’t.
No, you won’t use most of the content, that’s not the point. It demonstrates your ability to learn and become familiar with. You know where to find content.